Called to the Mountains: 50 Years of Volunteerism

By Alyssa Miles

When Reverend Ralph Beiting founded Christian Appalachian Project in 1964, it was of the highest priority to him that the organization be inclusive of all denominations of believers, not just his fellow Catholics, and that it seek to serve all people in need regardless of religious affiliation. He felt that Christ alone should be the rock on which he built this ministry of hope in Appalachian Kentucky, the place he now called home. At a time when Appalachia also found itself unexpectedly in the national spotlight, Beiting wanted to make sure that the organization not be politicized, exploitative, or in any way disparaging of the people he sought to help.

Like so many that have followed in his footsteps, Rev. Beiting felt that he had been called to the mountains simply to help minister to the needs of the people there in his midst, and he wanted this new organization to reflect the purity and simplicity of that calling. As he explained:

“I didn’t want it to be a study group. I didn’t want it to be a political group. I didn’t want it to be some kind of domineering group…It’s going to be a project. It’s going to be work. It’s going to be that you’re going to have to go out and wade those creeks and climb those hills and get your feet wet and your hands dirty. You’re going to work.”

For 50 years now, Christian Appalachian Project has relied on that vision to attract to kinds of people and resources needed to make a real difference. Even while Christian Appalachian Project was still in its infancy as an organization, Rev. Beiting realized that—with the limitations imposed by available funding—his dedicated group of core staff members could only achieve so much. They had to find ways to stretch limited resources at their disposal as far as possible, and the obvious solution was and remains the same: enlisting the help of volunteers of any age that share a compassion for those in need in Appalachia, and seek to live out their faith through hard work and acts of kindness.

Today, Christian Appalachian Project hosts more than 1,000 short-term and long-term volunteers from around the country every year, all of them eager to participate in the work that Rev. Beiting started more than 50 years ago. With so many participants, it is no wonder that volunteers are so often referred to as the backbone of the organization.

But with countless other options for volunteer work throughout this country and so many nonprofits competing for help, one does have to wonder: how is Christian Appalachian Project able to attract so many volunteers? With all the worthy causes out there, what is it that draws them to come to Eastern Kentucky? And what is it about their experiences here that keeps many of them coming back again and again?

When a new employee or volunteer comes to work at Christian Appalachian Project, like many offices, there is an orientation process. One aspect of this process is that the leaders of the organization share about each department. When Kathleen Leavell, Volunteer Director and 40-year CAP veteran, stands to share her story, she discusses her own feelings of anticipation when she was first starting out as a young volunteer for CAP more than 40 years ago. “I came to the mountains from New England hoping to do good and change lives”, explains Kathleen. “What happened was that my own life was changed.” Serving as a volunteer stirred something in her heart, and led her to dedicate the rest of her career to serving people in need in Appalachia.

Kathleen’s experience echoes that of Rev. Beiting himself, who was sent to Eastern Kentucky as a young priest right out of seminary. “By the end of [my first] summer, I found I had fallen in love,” said Beiting. “I had fallen in love with the people, with the mountains, and with the challenge.”

The common threads of passion for the place and people, and a sense of calling to make a difference in the lives of those in need in Appalachia have tied together the volunteer community and the staff with the organization from the beginning.

Current Christian Appalachian Project long-term volunteers often talk of having similar motivations. Kirby Grein, a long-term volunteer with Christian Appalachian Project’s Family Advocacy program, described her motivation to serve as “a desire to learn more about poverty in the region and be able to help the cause in a tangible way.” Glenn Brumbaugh, a recent seminary graduate who volunteers with the Elderly program, was looking for a way to “make a difference in the lives of those struggling under economic or social hardship and oppression.” Becky Paxton, a volunteer with Eagle Child and Family Development Center, felt a calling to Christian Appalachian Project after exploring many volunteer opportunities. Teleia Stringfellow, a volunteer with the Elderly Housing program, has always felt what she describes as a “burning desire to serve.”

Volunteers not only share many motivations and passions, but also often note the “rewarding challenges” of working in the field. Living in community, in particular, is a topic brought up by many of the volunteers as a great challenge that also yields great rewards. Inevitably, living in the same house as people of many differing ages, cultures, and personalities is going to be at the very least an adventure.

Teleia Stringfellow highlights the importance of vulnerability in surviving and thriving within a volunteer community. While she appreciated how the community helped uplift her in her spiritual journey, she also says that it has pushed her to be vulnerable with her peers in a new and challenging way.

While Becky Paxton anticipated living in community would likewise stretch her as a person, she commented that she was pleasantly surprised by the support she received from both the community in which she lived and her work community. In her eyes, everyone she works with has truly become like family, with all people’s viewpoints and experiences being respected and valued.

One challenge Kirby Grein has faced in her tenure as a long-term volunteer with the Family Advocacy Program is that the assistance one person can provide feels so small in comparison with the larger problem of poverty facing Appalachia. She described the struggle to balance her desire to make a lasting change and recognizing immediate challenges participants face. Many volunteers similarly feel a sense of being overwhelmed by the scope of the problems in the region, but agree that they must learn to rely on each other in the work they do and to put the highest priority on investing in individual program participants and in the empowerment of those participants as a means to combat the larger problems.

As Glenn Brumbaugh, volunteer with the Elderly Services program, explains, “I think one of the greatest challenges will be in keeping a focus on empowerment with my participants, as I will be tempted to struggle to meet their needs instead of helping them to find ways of addressing their concerns in a self-sufficient manner.”

One way Christian Appalachian Project is working to empower participants throughout Appalachia, specifically in Eastern Kentucky, is through youth-oriented programming. Becky Paxton, a volunteer with the Eagle Child and Family Development Center, shares that while she has experienced volunteering with many different organizations, what she loves most about her position with Christian Appalachian Project has been experiencing the impact she has had on individual children. She proudly recalls one instance with a child at the Center who had presented many behavioral challenges early on. Now, after working with him a great deal, that same child will sit on her lap and call her his teacher. Not just a teacher, his teacher.

The volunteer experience is not only about changing communities, but is ripe with personal growth. As with Kathleen Leavell, the Christian Appalachian Project volunteer experience has led many of the volunteers through their own journey of personal transformation. Like the best of relationships, the one that exists between Christian Appalachian Project, its participants, and its volunteers is mutually beneficial.

Many volunteers feel that their professional lives have been positively affected. Glenn Brumbaugh’s primary role in the Elderly program has been to fulfill the needs of elderly participants by visiting with them and giving them that basic human contact that they crave. He smiled as he shared that he has become an honorary grandson to many participants. But not only has he impacted lives and met needs—he has also been able to deepen his skills in pastoral care, which will help him in pastoral roles for the rest of his career.

Kirby Grein says that her experience has given her confirmation on her career direction, as she plans on working in the human service field. She believes that her tenure has taught her to really listen to each person’s story and empathize with them, a trait that will help her through her life as she works to connect with and uplift those in need.

Almost unanimously, volunteers agree that what is perhaps the most important outcome of their long-term volunteer service terms are the relationships they have built. In keeping with the legacy of love forged 50 years ago, volunteers with Christian Appalachian Project continue day after day to pour themselves into their relationships with not only participants, but with each other and with God. Every volunteer seems to echo the sentiment that they have been drawn to the spiritual aspect of the organization, and have grown as a result of the support given while living in community.

“In my experience, I have found that giving myself in service to others has been very rewarding, as well as a very personal blessing,” says Becky Paxton. “It has helped me continue to grow as a person and in my relationship with God. I also believe that I am making new friendships that will last a lifetime.” n